Terry cloth and method of making same



J 8, 1965 R. s. GATTONI 3,187,782

TERRY CLOTH AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Feb. 4, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet l I/VVENTO/P.

RICHARD S. GATTONI B) TTORN/EYS June 8, 1965 R. s. GATTONI 3,187,782

TERRY CLOTH AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Feb. 4, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /vvr0/?.

RICHARD s. GATTONI rr MET s.

June 8, 1965 R. s. GATTONI TERRY CLOTH AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 4, 1963 INVENTOR RICHARD s. GATTON] United States Patent 3,187,782 TERRY CLOTH AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Richard S. Gattoni, Wyckoif, N.J., assignor to Wellington Sears Company Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 256,500 2 Claims. (Cl. 139-396) The invention relates to textiles and more particularly to improvements in terry cloth fabrics and the method of making them. It has special application to terry cloth towelling and the like.

Terry cloth is widely used for towels, wash cloths, beach attire and other purposes where its qualities of absorbency, lightness and ability to withstand rough usage are favorably regarded. It can be dyed in plain colors and in patterns, but it has long been recognized that because of the general roughness of a terry weave, with its rather long pile loops disposed in a random haphazard manner, choice of patterning tends to be restricted to designs which are not too much dependent upon delicate outlines or color shadings. What seems to happen is that fineness of outline and delicacy of tints and shades are lost or merged as the pile loops are disarranged either during the process of dyeing, or in subsequent handling and use, or both. The art has long accepted these unfavorable aspects of terry cloth as a necessary drawback, to some extent placing utility ahead of beauty-or at least accepting an apparent limitation upon choice of design. However, I have discovered a way to greatly enhance the texture, feel and pattern possibilities of terry cloth without sacrifice of its practical characteristics, opening up a new and broadened range to the textile pattern designer and making over the Well known rough, serviceable terry cloth into a softer, lighter, smoother material capable of taking printed designs incorporating quite delicate traceries and using more finely blended tints and shades of varying color hues such as have not heretofore been satisfactorily reproduced in towelling or other articles where terry cloth has been customarily used.

According to my invention the pile loops are cut to provide severed warp ends. The cutting or shearing of the pile loops occurs above the ground cloth so that the base fabric is uncut. I have found further that if the picks are beat up at elevated pressures, or if the fabric is shrunk in a way to tighen the ground threads, or when both of these operations are performed, subsequent shearing of the pile loops will result in a cloth having the short pieces of cut warp threads tightly locked into the ground cloth with their free ends extending to form a soft, smooth face peculiarly adapted to dyeing and pattern printing. Most surprisingly, this smoother and lighter material has turned out to be more absorbent than ordinary terry cloth, so that instead of a partial sacrifice of utility to beauty, as seemed a likely possibility, I discovered that I had succeeded not only in improving appearance, softness and feel, but at the same time in increasing absorbency in a substantial degree.

Also I have found that by depressing the pile loops over selected portions of the cloth, shearing the pile over undepressed portions and then releasing the depressed portions, a jacquard appearance can be obtained without using the convention sculptured jacquard weave. A con- Patented June 8, 1965 "ice ventional sculptured jacquard weave in terry results in loss of absorbency Whereas my cloth of jacquard-like appearance will have an absorbency higher than the original terry from which it is made.

These and other advantages of my invention will further appear from the following detailed description of the best mode contemplated by me for carrying out my invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a photograph of a corner of a patterned terry cloth towel, the fabric of which is the same as can be used as the starting material according to my invention.

FIG. 2 is a photograph of a similar corner of the patterned terry cloth towel as finally produced according to my invention. The pattern as applied to FIGS. 1 and 2 was identical, all material conditions of the printing operation, and the inks and screens employed being the same. (Both are black and white reproductions of patterns in color.)

FIG. 3 is a photograph of a corner of a terry cloth towel having a solid overall color and embodying a conventional woven stripe. As in FIG. 1, the fabric is the starting material in making my invention.

FIG. 4 is a photograph of a similar corner of a towel as finally produced according to another embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the fabric of FIG. 1, drawn to an enlarged scale.

FIG. 6 is a similar view of the fabric of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a schematic transverse cross-sectional view illustrating one of the steps in making a fabric such as that shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 9 is a similar view illustrating a later step in the making of such a fabric.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the application of my invention to a patterned terry cloth towel with the use of a design containing a multiplicity of colors in varying tints and shades. In FIG. 1 the pile loops of the cloth are uncut, and in this sense the view may be taken as representative of the appearance of a conventional terry cloth towel. However, in its relationship to the present invention, FIG. 1, less the printed desig, is further representative of the intermediate product according to my invention in which the terry cloth has been Woven under elevated beat-up pressure or has been specially shrunk to contract the ground threads, or in which both of these procedures have been followed. Following such procedure or procedures, the

pile loops are sheared withthe result shown in those portions of FIG. 2 which do not have a printed design thereoni.e. the left-hand and top borders as seen in this View. The result of imprinting a multi-color design upon the completed fabric of FIG. 2 is shown in the patterned area of this view. The pattern as applied to FIGS. 1 and 2 was identical, all material conditions of the printing operation, and the inks and screens employed being the same.

NOW regarding FIG. 1 as representative of the printing of such a design on ordinary unsheared terry cloth, a comparison may be made between FIGS. 1 and 2 with a view to revealing the extent to which the concluding step of my procedure affects the quality or appearance of such design. It will be observed that in FIG. 1 the area X 3 lacks clear definition, whereas in FIG. 2 the corresponding area X becomes a central flower figure which can be described as generally star-shaped. Also, it will be observed that there is much more definition within the area surrounding .this star-shaped figure X" than around the to a terry cloth towel in which a striped effect is obtained in a novel manner. The vertical stripe shown in these views is a conventional woven stripe. The horizontal striping in FIG. 4 is produced by depressing the pile loops of FIG. 3 over selected portions of the cloth, then shearing the pile loops over the undepressed portions of the cloth, and theerafter releasing the depressed portions. This results in the production of the sheared stripe areas Z shown in FIG. 4.

In FIG. I have shown a schematic longitudinal crosssectional view of the fabric of FIG. 1 drawn to an enlarged scale. The terry cloth may be woven on a conventional terry loom, using a typical terry weave such as the one here shown. In FIG. 5 the warp threads are shown by full lines and the weft threads, or picks, appear in crosssection. The fabric comprises warp threads forming the face pile loops 1, threads 2 forming the back pile loops, threads 3 and 4 forming in conjunction with picks 5 the base of the fabric or ground cloth. In this weave the warp threads are laid next to each other across the fabric as follows:

Face pile thread (1) Ground thread (3) Back pile thread (2) Ground thread (4) This order is repeated across the entire width of the cloth. The pile loops 1 and 2 are formed by omitting beat-up on two picks, i.e. beating up only every thirdpick. The picks are beat up at elevated pressures or alternatively the fabric is shrunk in a way to tighten the ground threads. I have found that when this is done, or when both of these operations are performed, subsequent shearing of the pile loops will result in a cloth having the short pieces of cut warp threads tightly locked into the ground cloth with their free ends extending to form a highly absorbent face especially adapted to dyeing and pattern printing.

FIG. 6 shows the result of shearing the face pile loops 1 of FIG. 5 along the shear line S-S. In FIG. 7 both sides of the fabric have been sheared-leaving the cut warp ends extending to form the fabric surfaces. The

tips of these warp ends are splayed as best seen at 6 in FIG. 7, as a natural result of the shearing operation.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an embodiment of my invention in which stripes or other patterns are formed by shearing selected areas of the cloth. This may be done. for example, by depressing such selected areas by means of metal fingers or plates, one of which is shown at 7, as the cloth passes through the shears in which the loops are severed along a shear line SS. Following shearing the depressed portions 8 are released, with the result shown in FIG. 9 where the previously depressed portions now are elevated above the line of shearing, i.e.. above the tops of the tips 6 of the cut warp ends 10. The fingers or plates 7 may operate in conjunction with the shears or they may be applied to the cloth after a size has been applied to hold the selected areas 8 of the cloth in a compressed condition during shearing, following which the size can be removedwith a suitable solvent. procedure it is possible to produce other kinds of patterned effects having the general appearance of a jacquard design. The characteristics and texture of this type of patterned By this cloth are quite different from those of an ordinary sculptured jacquard weave, for whereas a conventional sculptured jacquard weave in terry results in loss of absorbency, my weave of jacquard-like appearance will have an absorbency higher than the original terry from which it is made. Fabric embodying my invention is more absorbent than ordinary terry cloth, this being true notwithstanding the fact that part of the material of the terry loops counted on for moisture absorption have been sheared away. For example, in'the case of a towelling material which'is fairly representative of the invention, the absorbency has been found to be 12% higher than that of the original terry cloth when not processed as herein described (actually absorbency increases as high as 20% have been obtained). The results of a standard Macy absorption test are shown as follows:

Percent Macy Absorption These data show an average improvement in absorbency of 12%. The tests were performed in accordance with the method described inthe specifications of Macys Bureau of Standards, R. H. Macy & Company, Herald Square, New York, New York,which set forth in detail the manner of preparation of the specimens as to dimensions, washing procedure, conditioning and testing. The weight of water absorbed is found by difference and percent absorption is calculated by dividing the weight of water absorbed by the weight of the dry (conditioned) sample.

Percent Absorption=Saturated Wt.-Dry Wt. X 100 Dry Wt.

The percent absorption of the sample is found by taking an average of the percent absorption of the five specimens cut from the sample. The Macy test has been in effect since January '17, 1948 and will be familiar to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

, The terms and expressions which I have employed are used in a descriptive and not a limiting sense, and I have no intention of excluding equivalents of the invention describer and claimed. 9

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, terry cloth having pile loops cut to provide cut warp ends over its surface, said cloth'havin'g a design printed within the surface of cut pile loops whereby the design is determined (References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Mellor 139-396 X Goodall 26-16 5 Peters et a1.

Kitsee 26-69 Wakefield 169-396 Castles 161-63 Bradshaw 139-391 Ormond 101-426 X Shuttleworth et a1 101-129 Miller 139-396 X 6 Kinzinger 139-391 X Cogovan 28-72 Tillett et al 101-426 X Janney et a1. 26-16 X Nowicki 28-72 Nowicki 161-63 Law 139-396 FOREIGN PATENTS DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. AS AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE, TERRY CLOTH HAVING PILE LOOPS CUT TO PROVIDE CUT WARP ENDS OVER ITS SURFACE, SAID CLOTH HAVING A DESIGN PRINTED WITHIN THE SURFACE OF CUT PILE LOOPS WHEREBY THE DESIGN IS DETERMINED BY A PATTERN OF PRINTING UPON A SURFACE OF UNIFORM HEIGHT AS DISTINGUISHED FROM A DESIGN DETERMINED PRIMARILY BY A PATTERN IN RELIEF. 